Baruch Spinoza was born on November 24th, 1632 in Amsterdam. He was born to Spanish-Portuguese Jews living in exile in Holland. Growing up he was trained in the religious and philosophical traditions of Judaism. He was taught i Hebrew and in the Old Testament, the Talmud, and the mystical tradition of the cabala. Spinoza was expelled from the synagogue at Amsterdam for defending heretical opinions in 1656. He had come to conclusions about God and the world and about he interpretation of the scripture that were unacceptable to the Jewish community.
Spinoza fled Amsterdam and made a living grinding optical lenses. (This might have contributed to the cause of his death.) He spent his quiet time in philosophical meditation and writing. He privately studied Cartesian Philosophy. His private study of philosophical treatises earned him a significant reputation throughout Europe. In 1673 Spinoza was offered a chair of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg by the elector of palatinate. He chose to maintain a peaceful life and his independent thought. He died of tuberculosis from inhaling glass dust from lens grinding.
In his own time and for a century after he died, Spinoza's philosophy was not just largely unappreciated, it was also often despised. It was viewed as atheistic.
Philosophy
Spinoza was a rationalist. He also was the founder of Spinozism. His first published works in 1663 was basically a systematic presentation of the philosophy of Descartes. He also added his own suggestions for its improvement. It was called "The Principles of Descartes's Philosophy."There were only three of these published in his lifetime. Spinoza was heavily influences by Descartes even though he did not favor Descartes's dualism. Spinoza was the first philosopher to suggest that the bible be read critically. He viewed the world as a part of God and believed that thought and extension are two of God's features that we can perceive. Spinoza was very deterministic and had a deterministic view of the world. He believed that God controlled all through natural laws. He thought that God was the only on that was truly but people can have happiness through seeing thing "from the prospective of eternity." Spinoza was despised by many because of his thoughts. Many even thought that he was athiest. Even his own family deserted him.
Another one of his works, "Theological-Political Treatise" appeared anonymously in 1670. Spinoza hoped in 1675 to publish "Ethics" with and account of the complaint against his purported atheism. This rumor was spread by a group of unnamed "theologians" and "Cartesians". Spinoza was wared by his friends to withhold the publication because "the theologians were everywhere lying in wait" for him.
Major Works
A Theological-Political Treatise
Traetatus Politicus
Ethics
On the Improvement of the Understanding
Quotes
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
"Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many."
"Desire is the essence of a man."
"Fame has also this great drawback, that if we pursue it, we must direct our lives so as to please the fancy of men."
“Happiness is a virtue, not its reward”
“The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free”
“If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.”
Influences
Influenced By:
Descartes
Hobbes
Stoics
Avicenna
Maimonides
Nicholas of Cusa
Aristotle
Bacon
Plato
Baruch Spinoza by: Stephanie B.
Biography
Baruch Spinoza was born on November 24th, 1632 in Amsterdam. He was born to Spanish-Portuguese Jews living in exile in Holland. Growing up he was trained in the religious and philosophical traditions of Judaism. He was taught i Hebrew and in the Old Testament, the Talmud, and the mystical tradition of the cabala. Spinoza was expelled from the synagogue at Amsterdam for defending heretical opinions in 1656. He had come to conclusions about God and the world and about he interpretation of the scripture that were unacceptable to the Jewish community.Spinoza fled Amsterdam and made a living grinding optical lenses. (This might have contributed to the cause of his death.) He spent his quiet time in philosophical meditation and writing. He privately studied Cartesian Philosophy. His private study of philosophical treatises earned him a significant reputation throughout Europe. In 1673 Spinoza was offered a chair of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg by the elector of palatinate. He chose to maintain a peaceful life and his independent thought. He died of tuberculosis from inhaling glass dust from lens grinding.
In his own time and for a century after he died, Spinoza's philosophy was not just largely unappreciated, it was also often despised. It was viewed as atheistic.
Philosophy
Spinoza was a rationalist. He also was the founder of Spinozism. His first published works in 1663 was basically a systematic presentation of the philosophy of Descartes. He also added his own suggestions for its improvement. It was called "The Principles of Descartes's Philosophy."There were only three of these published in his lifetime. Spinoza was heavily influences by Descartes even though he did not favor Descartes's dualism. Spinoza was the first philosopher to suggest that the bible be read critically. He viewed the world as a part of God and believed that thought and extension are two of God's features that we can perceive. Spinoza was very deterministic and had a deterministic view of the world. He believed that God controlled all through natural laws. He thought that God was the only on that was truly but people can have happiness through seeing thing "from the prospective of eternity." Spinoza was despised by many because of his thoughts. Many even thought that he was athiest. Even his own family deserted him.Another one of his works, "Theological-Political Treatise" appeared anonymously in 1670. Spinoza hoped in 1675 to publish "Ethics" with and account of the complaint against his purported atheism. This rumor was spread by a group of unnamed "theologians" and "Cartesians". Spinoza was wared by his friends to withhold the publication because "the theologians were everywhere lying in wait" for him.
Major Works
Quotes
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare.""Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many."
"Desire is the essence of a man."
"Fame has also this great drawback, that if we pursue it, we must direct our lives so as to please the fancy of men."
“Happiness is a virtue, not its reward”
“The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free”
“If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.”
Influences
Influenced By:
DescartesHobbes
Stoics
Avicenna
Maimonides
Nicholas of Cusa
Aristotle
Bacon
Plato
Influenced:
HegelMarx
Davidson
Einstein
Kant... etc...
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinozahttp://www.philosophypages.com/ph/spin.htm
http://www.friesian.com/spinoza.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~tneff/
http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/phils/spinoza.html
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/baruch_spinoza/